Problem:

“Suicide is currently the second most common cause of death among college students” (Burrell, 2018). As someone who has known a fellow student who died by suicide, I think it is imperative that we take more steps to ensure that we, as Gamecocks, are doing everything we can to prevent this from happening to anyone else. The University of South Carolina – like most colleges in America – has recognized the increase in mental health disorders and suicide among college-aged adults by increasing resources and programming. However, I believe there are two more steps that could be implemented to better equip each member of our community to address mental health and suicide in both themselves and others:

1. Mental Health Training

2. Increasing Resource Availability
    

If implemented, I believe that at the very least, Gamecocks would feel more comfortable confronting mental health issues within their own life and would be better equipped to recognize concerning behavior in others.  

 

Solutions:

Mental Health Training

I believe a key to helping students cope with their mental illnesses is based in education. With anxiety and depression on the rise (a daunting 35% of 14,000 surveyed college students in eight countries reported struggling with a mental illness), it seems that increasing awareness in the students themselves as to what these illnesses look like would be a great first step (Eva, 2019). Already colleges require incoming students to go through alcohol, drug, and sexual assault training. With the rate of anxiety, depression, and suicide in college-aged adults increasing, why is mental health being overlooked in such programs? Research offers a variety of answers: expense, complexity, and, simply, the relative newness of this issue (Eva, 2019).

 

Too many students are battling these illnesses on their own. Either unsure if they need help or else unwilling to seek it, a great deal of these affected students are fighting losing battles against depression and anxiety every day. In fact, studies show that one in five American college students are affected by anxiety and/or depression and most university counseling centers list these as the top two reasons students are requesting mental health services (Rosenburg, 2018). If we could ease the struggle of just one student, save just one life, it would be worth it to implement a mental health education program.  

 

Increasing Resource Availability

Throughout my four years as a Gamecock, I have interacted with the counseling services in a variety of ways. As a Resident Mentor, I have referred many students to their services and as a friend suggested their services to numerous of my fellow students. In my first key insight, “Cultivating EQ”, I discuss the disconnect I experienced after my resident died by suicide between my own mental health struggles and my ability to offer up resources to my residents who also needed them.I have found that the first hurtle in conversations involving mental health is getting these individuals to see for themselves the benefits that could come from counseling. I myself battled for weeks to realize the possible benefits I would reap, should I begin to seek professional help in confronting my grief. The second; however, is not something that I can control: availability. It is so frustrating knowing that a friend has an immediate mental health need, but cannot get an appointment until weeks later. By that point, how much worse will they be? This was made all the more clear to me when students started a petition for Counseling Reform. Many students commented on the petition and social media about their negative experiences with the counseling center and their inability to get appointments during their time of need. This not only scares me, but breaks my heart.

 

The fight to meet the needs of students in this capacity is not unique to our campus. In fact, most schools are struggling to staff enough qualified individuals to manage the requests and needs of students across their campuses (Wolverton, 2019). As the problem of poor mental health in college-aged adults increases, resources such as counselors and appointments need to increase as well, but unfortunately that is not always the case. It seems that creative solutions such as online programs, increased group sessions, and destigmatizing movements which increase capacity for mental healthdiscussion have been effective and helpful for many colleges and would be something to consider at our own university (Wolverton, 2019).

 

Execution:

Implementing a mental health training program across campus cannot happen overnight. It might, in fact, take several years to put into place and fine tune, but there are many other universities who are on the cutting edge of mental health education that could be used as references and models when developing a system of our own. I would suggest a two-part model that focuses on personalizing the education experience:

1. Part 1 (Orientation): Firstly, a face-to-face introduction to the topic of mental health during regularly scheduled orientation sessions would be put into place. By having this conversation in person, it would tear down walls and stigmas that often accompany mental health concerns. Other colleges have done so by showing videos, performing skits, storytelling, hosting information and discussion sessions, etc. which best fit the needs of their students – particularly finding that current student testimonies carry the most weight with the incoming students (Eva, 2019).

2. Part 2 (Online): Secondly, an online education program which students would complete on their own time. This would be similar to the existing online education that incoming students do (AlcoholEDU and SAPU). “College Student Mental Health and Wellbeing” is a course offered through Everfi that covers self-management, distress recognition, seeking help, and dismantling stigmas (https://everfi.com/offerings/listing/college-student-mental-health-course/). This program would reinforce the discussion already held at orientation and would reassure students that they are not alone. 

 

Increasing resource availability is something that could be incredibly complex. It is not always as simple as “let’s hire more mental health professionals”. Though that seems like the appropriate solution, simply hiring more staff is an expensive and often time only temporary way to increase capacity. Usually there are more creative solutions that – though not as simple to arrive to – typically provide a more diversified service experience that could provide a new way to assist students. Some options include:

1. Online screenings and treatments

2. Programs that offer step-by-step guide through anxiety and depression treatment

3. Improving existing group therapy sessions and mental health summits

4. As a last resort, increasing staff

By following the models of colleges that have already implemented these creative solutions, we could expand our ability to reach students in need of mental health treatment. Online screenings would provide students the opportunity to seek help right when they need it and would offer them support through their struggles. This is particularly appealing for students who might feel like their issues are temporary or not serious enough to want to seek face-to-face counseling. Other colleges offer online programs that educate students about their particular mental health struggles and offer ways to support and bolster students through these times. A student at UCLA said a similar program, “fundamentally changed who I am and how I approach my life” by encouraging her to make small changes that impacted her overall wellbeing (Wolverton, 2019). Building off of the existing support models, expanding group sessions and summits would further break down stigmas that could still be preventing students from seeking help. Finally, if all other options are tested, but not successful enough to help with the capacity issues, hiring more professional mental health staff would always be helpful in simply seeing more students who are struggling with mental health. 

 

As far as who would be responsible for implementing such a program, I think it would be really incredible if Universities worked with groups of students as well as healthcare professionals as they develop their mental health services. By incorporating students who have had experiences similar to my own, the university opens itself up to truly customizing the services to match the current needs of the students and by working with healthcare professionals, can ensure the program has medical merit. Many students have a passion for improving mental health services and to not listen to their experiences as we continue to develop these programs would be doing a disservice to all future students.

 

Evaluation:

As the need for mental health services on college campuses grow, the need for creative and diversified solutions to this problem grows as well. The climate of mental health is changing and slowing becoming less stigmatized, yet still there is a need to increase awareness. If implemented, these “solutions” would be great first steps, but we could not stop there. Student’s needs evolve with time and staying on the cutting edge of those needs is critical to maintaining top status as a university. To evaluate the successfulness of these solutions, I would survey students both before and after implementing changes – focusing on those students who have sought out mental health services. By observing how these new techniques and trainings impact the overall success of the services on campus, we would be able to grow and improve them to continue to meet the needs and demands of the students. 

 

Final Thoughts:

It seems almost unbelievable that this is not something that every college has implemented. The biggest barriers seem to be expense and resource management. But as I learned in my class and discussed in my first key insight, part of developing the strength to address ones owns emotions is developing the ability to understand and manage the emotions of those around you. In an instance of pure reflection, I wonder how different my experience these four years might have been had I been better prepared to address mental health concerns in myself and others. I can only hope that in the future universities make a labored effort to improve their mental health services through education, support, and follow up.